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January 24, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



693 



The TORONTO 



CONVENTION 



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The American Carnation Society Holds Its Sixteenth 

 Annual Meeting and Exhibition. 



President, Fred H. Lemon, Richmond, Ind. 



Vice-president, Peter Bisset, Washington, D. C. 



Secretary, Albert M. Herr, Lancaster, Pa. 



Treasurer, Fred E. Dorner, Lafayette, Ind. 



NEXT MEETING PLACE. WASHINGTON. D. C. JANUARY. 1908. 



The American marines who landed on 

 British soil at Kingston were repulsed 

 by a volley of vehement rhetoric, but the 

 invasion of Canada by the American 

 Carnation Society has been consum- 

 mated with an exchange of compliments 

 which has added to our long cherished 

 hope that some day there may be no 

 boundary line between us. 



It is the first time the Carnation 

 Society has crossed the border, although 

 many of its stanchest members are 

 Canadian carnation growers. Toronto is 

 one of the pleasantest cities on the 

 American continent, and her florists are 

 among the most hospitable men on earth. 

 They were able to make arrangements 

 which erased the line usually drawn by 

 the customs authorities, and the ship- 

 ments of carnations for exhibition, bear- 

 ing the official tag of the American 

 Carnation Society, were passed as though 

 no such thing as tariff red tape ever 

 existed. All the Toronto craftsmen had 

 put their shoulders to the wheel, under 

 the leadership of President Dunlop, and 

 with united effort had perfected ar- 

 rangements which left nothing to be 

 desired in the way of conveniences for 

 staging an excellent exhibition, or for 

 the purposes of the meetings of the 

 society. 



It is probable that the severe cold 

 wave which swept over the country two 

 days before the hour of starting for the 

 convention had something to do with 

 cutting down the attendance, which was, 

 nevertheless, close to 300 on Wednesday 

 afternoon and fully as large as at recent 

 meetings of the society, showing that the 

 local people had turned out in full force, 

 for there are not so many growers in 

 the environs of Toronto as in the terri- 

 tory adjacent to Boston and Chicago. 

 All the wheel horses of the society were 

 present, except William Scott, Peter 

 Fisher and John Birnie, who were ill. 

 Far away Denver had three, Boston and 

 New York sent good delegations and 

 Chicago was better represented than at 

 the Boston meeting last year. 



It was 8 degrees below zero at Toronto 

 on Wednesday and all trains were 

 delayed, the Boston party being five 

 hours behind schedule. The result was 

 that many shipments arrived too late 



for competition, in spite of the hour 's 

 grace given by virtue of the official 

 announcement, a fortnight ago, that 

 exhibitors could have until 2 p. m. for 

 staging. Nearly all stock traveled well 

 and good packing caused everything to 

 come through without loss by frost. 



It was noted that the varieties shown 

 were again practically all new sorts. In 

 recent years the exhibitions of the Car- 

 nation Society have no longer been con- 

 tests of different growers to see who 



Fred H. Lemon. 



(President-elect American Carnation Soclt-ty.) 



could produce the best blooms of stand- 

 ard varieties, but have become displays 

 of far more interesting and important 

 character, namely, exhibitions of the 

 best blooms of the varieties shortly to 

 occupy space on the growers' benches 

 by the displacement of inferior sorts. 

 The raising of carnation seedlings has 

 become the pastime of hundreds of small 

 growers. Dozens of these seedlings were 

 shown in small quantities, not for com- 

 petition but for comparison with the 



splendid sorts which are being sent out 

 this year. Some fine things are among 

 them. So far has the development of 

 the carnation progressed that it takes a 

 genuinely good thing to stand up before 

 the critical inspection accorded exhibits 

 at the annual meeting of the American 

 Carnation Society. 



The exhibition possibly was not quite 

 so large as that at Boston last year and 

 at Chicago the year before, but it never- 

 theless was a large and interesting show. 

 The quality was good throughout, al- 

 though not so fine as it would; have 

 been had not the whole country suffered 

 for weeks under the debilitating influence 

 of warm, damp atmosphere and sunless 

 skies. 



The management of the exhibition 

 was in the hands of George H. Mills, 

 who handled his task to the satisfaction 

 of all. The exhibition hall, the assembly 

 room in the city building, was excellently 

 adapted to the purpose, stock keeping 

 well. The business meetings were excel- 

 lently housed under the same roof. 



President John H. Dunlop proved to 

 be one of the most capable presiding 

 officers the society ever has had ahd the 

 business meetings were conducted' after 

 a fashion to set a pace for his suc- 

 cessors. 



First Business Session. 



It was not until Wednesday evening * 

 that the society got down to business, 

 with a crowded house, the exhibition hall 

 also being well filled at the time by 

 Toronto's best people, whose interest 

 proved the oft-repeated assertion that a 

 visit of the Carnation Society gives the 

 sale of the carnation a tremendous im- 

 petus in the favored city. 



The society was eloquently welcomed 

 by Lieutenant Governor Clarke, whose 

 address was full of. sentiment and 

 brotherly feeling. The mayor, a cousin 

 of L(. Coatsworth, of Chicago, was un- 

 avoidably absent, but the second of 

 Chairman Graham, of the Civic Com- 

 mittee, was as warm as even the mayor 

 could have made it. Responses were 

 made by C. W. Ward, of Queens, and 

 F. II. Lemon, of Richmond. Mr. Ward 

 paid tribute to Canada's vastness, her 

 resources, her future, and what it means 

 to those engaged in floriculture. He 

 said the spirit of progress as exemplified 

 in President Dunlop and the other To- 

 ronto florists indicates the manifest des- 

 tiny of the Dominion. Mr. Lemon spoke 

 of the gratitude of the society for the 

 warmth of hospitality extended and of 

 the community of interests between 

 Canada and the United States as be- 

 tween all carnation growers. He also 

 said a word for the absent members, 

 many of whom were detained by illness. 



President John H. Dunlop then read 

 his annual address, introducing it with a 

 few words of welcome on his own account 

 and for the Canadian florists. The mem- 

 bers were invited to visit all local grow- 

 ers. The address was as follows: 



President's Address. 



It is with more than ordinary pleas- 

 ure I welcome you to this, the sixteenth 

 annual convention of this progressive and 

 important organization. At our last con- 

 vention, at Boston, words of welcome 

 were extended by his worship the mayor, 

 by the secretary of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society (in the absence of 

 its president), the president of the Gar- 

 deners' and Florists' Club, and replied 

 to by members of this society; men who 

 have by their untiring zeal endeared 



